Self-Censorship

Below is the poem entitled Self-Censorship which was written by poet
Vickie
Ortiz Vazquez. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.

Self-Censorship

Self -Censorship, 2011
Vickie M. Ortiz Vazquez
Shut up
Stop, just shut up
I am asking you to shut up
SHUT THE HECK UP
Not again, how many time before you stop
Don’t give that look; as if you don’t understand
Left, right, back, forward
Constant persecution, non stop
Cállate
Para, solo cállate
Te estoy pidiendo que te calles
Cállate
MALDITA SEAS, QUE TE CALLES
Nonstop today, tomorrow and yesterday
Yesterday, denied basic amenities
Tomorrow, waiting for the new oppression
Today, constant denial by you and those like you
Yours, the color of your skin
Number one weapon
Forgetting we are all made after HIS image
Modernization, lynching without whips
Shield, the color of your skin
Guilty, the color of my skin
Let’s not forget the ascent
Shut up
Stop, just shut up
I am asking you to shut up
SHUT THE HECK UP
Yesterday, there she was
Tumor the size of a banana
Guilty, the color of her skin
Her language
Health care denied, hiding behind her low resources
Today, can’t help but wonder
How do you sleep at night?
Tomorrow, would you strike?
Take a holiday?!
Celebrate one more day of oppression
Yours, the color of your skin
Mine, the color of my skin
Reasons for your hate
Misunderstanding
Hiding the truth for your constant persecution
Cállate
Para, solo cállate
Te estoy pidiendo que te calles
Cállate
MALDITA SEAS, QUE TE CALLES
Tug of war
You against me
Lies cannot decipher, yours
Hope, a fool’s wealth; theirs
There they lay, bodies
Pointing the white fingers, accused
Never mind how we got to this
Years, decades of the white man’s supremacy
Constant fear; thought of losing
Mended empire hidden behind stories
Constant fear; thought of losing
Power
Control
HE paid for you and I to be forgiven, believe
What is there to forgive?
Forget
Design after HIS image, your skin
Synonymous to hate
Not what he had in mind
Yet, scriptures you spit as you strangle every reason for my living
Guilty, the color of my skin
Don’t forget my ascent
Shut up
Stop, just shut up
I am asking you to shut up
SHUT THE HECK UP
Cállate
Para, solo cállate
Te estoy pidiendo que te calles
Cállate
MALDITA SEAS, QUE TE CALLES
Wait, hold on
Here, take it
Don’t worry
What?!
If I give you consent is not the same, the rage against my skin
Come on, grab it
Forget the new age, ways
Let’s go back to the cold blooded actions, the whip making contact with the dark skin
Not televised, yet a well known factor
Quite